8 - Friday, April 8, 2011

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

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Hunwick's 40-save shutout sends Michigan past
Sioux, to first national title game since 1998

By MICHAEL FLOREK
Daily Sports Editor
ST. PAUL, Minn. - It was Matt
Frattin and Shawn Hunwick.
Michigan's 2-0 win over North
Dakota on Thursday sent the Wol-
verines to
the NCAA MICHIGAN 2
Finals, leav- N DAKOTA 0
ing them
one game away from hoisting the
program's 10th national champi-
onship trophy.
And following the victory,
senior Shawn Hunwick sat in the
locker room - just minutes after
he had shut down North Dakota,
the overwhelming favorites with
the high-powered offense and a
Hobey Baker shoo-in - kicked
back, calmly answering questions,
with no emotion whatsoever.
With 10 minutes left in the
game, Frattin, the North Dakota
forward, picked up the puck and
made a move around senior defen-
seman Chad Langlais. With Frat-
tin on the doorstep, Hunwick came
out to challenge.
It was Frattin, the player with
the respect of the whole college
hockey world, the NHL draft pick,
the story of redemption (from
kicked off the team to Hobey
Baker award favorite). Hunwick,

the former walk-on who wasn't
expected to get significant playing
time his entire career, who won
CCHA goalie of the year based on
his stats but wasn't voted to either
All-CCHA team. The two were
face-to-face.
Frattin let go of the backhand.
Hunwick crouched down and
made the paddle stop - one of his
40 saves on the game - just sec-
onds after Michigan nearly took
a two-goal lead. It came just min-
utes after the small Michigan con-
tingent, occupying two sections to
the right of the Wolverines' bench,
felt compelled to overpower the
Fighting Sioux crow, which filled
the rest of the building, for the first
time since Michigan's goal.
And it came against North
Dakota's best player.
"When it's in a rush, it's hard to
tell if it's actually Frattin coming
in," Hunwick said. "You don't try
to worry too much about it, but you
have to know where theirstars are
at all times. (Frattin's) got 36 goals
for a reason."
Michigan was outshot by 20, but
they scored two goals - the last
one an empty netter. The first goal
came with just over six minutes to
go in the first period.
Long before the crowd watched
the majority of the game in silence,

too afraid to breathe, senior for-
ward Ben Winnett picked up the
puck off a Jon Merrill rebound.
Winnett went around North
Dakota goalie Aaron Dell, who was
sprawled on the ice and deposited
it in the back of the net.
That was all Hunwick needed.
He made kick saves on shots from
in close, blocker saves from shots
on the outside and a sliding save on
North Dakota defenseman Chay
Genoway that may have been his
best.
"I wasn't coming in with the
mindset that I was going to have
to steal one," Hunwick said. "But
once I settled in inthe second,I felt
I could if I had to."
The shutout was Hunwick's
fourth of the season, but the only
one against a team that averaged
more than four goals per game. It
was his second shutout when his
team was outshot. But the shot dif-
ferential of minus-20 this time was
a season-high.
But the most unusual thing
about it was that he didn't fin-
ish the job. The Fighting Sioux
pulled their goalie with just 1:12
to go. Hunwick made two saves
and as the puck bounced out to the
point, North Dakota Danny Kristo
charged in and let go of a shot -
blocked by junior defenseman

AKE FROMM/Daily
Senior goaltender Shawn Hunwick mode 40 saves in a shutout suet the Fighting Sioux, guiding his team to the title game.

Greg Pateryn. After the ricochet, Game over. The Wolverines
there was another Fighting Sioux were headed to play for the nation-
shot, blocked by senior forward al championship - all because of a
Carl Hagelin. Michigan cleared kid who came to Ann Arbor never
and senior forward Scooter expectingto play in a game.
Vaughan put it in the empty-netter. "I'm not surprised because

this is what he's doing," Michigan
coach Red Berenson said. "It's one
week after another ... A year ago I
would have told you there was no
chance that this would be happen-
ing."

Winnett provides key first goal Fourth line surprises Fighting

By CASANDRA PAGNI to get one tonight, it was just a
Daily Sports Writer big burst of energy for the team in
terms of ctrtino off tht t P_

ST. PAUL, Minn. - He had only
scored three goals heading into
last night's Frozen Four matchup
with No. 1 North Dakota, but that
was a statistic that didn't matter to
Michigan forward Ben Winnett.
The senior has played vari-
ous roles for the Wolverines this
season and has seen frequent line
changes and penalty-kill duties.
But even though Winnett wasn't
having the offensive campaign he
wanted, he took it all in stride.
And on Thursday night at
Xcel Energy Center, against the
nation's third best defense in the
Fighting Sioux, Winnett got his
time to shine.
In front of a sellout crowd of
19,139 - the majority of which
had been rooting for North Dako-
ta - Winnett scored his fourth
goal of the season, his first since
December. His lamplighter came
13 minutes into the first period to
give No. 2 Michigan the only lead
it would need against the Fighting
Sioux.
"That's actually been my nick-
name throughout the year: the
scoring machine, because of the
offensive numbers that I've been
able to put up," Winnett joked
after the game. "(But) to be able

ser ns fbart g Oi rat game.
Winnett, along with linemates
senior forward Matt Rust and
junior forward Luke Glendening,
had the task of matching up with
North Dakota's top line for much
of the game. The trio finished with
a combined plus-3 rating for the
Wolverines on Thursday and kept
Fighting Sioux leading scorer and
Hobey Baker finalist Matt Frattin
to a minus-2 rating.
"Going into the game, our line
knew we were going up against a
very high-scoring line," Winnett
said. "But we were able to do a
pretty good job and frustrate them
early, and I think that kind of set
the tone for the rest of the game."
As Michigan coach Red Beren-
son pointed out in the postgame
press conference, Winnett, Rust
and Glendening had a combined
16 goals heading into Thursday's
contest. The Fighting Sioux line
they faced in Frattin, Evan Trupp
and Brad Malone had over 60.
But deep in the NCAA Tourna-
ment, numbers aren't as impor-
tant as execution. And at a timely
moment for Michigan, Winnett's
goal was the much-needed first
spark for the Wolverines.
He definitely wasn't one of the
most high-profile seniors heading

into this weekend, but Winnett
will carry over this confidence
boost into Saturday's National
Championship Game.
Shortly after freshman forward
Jon Merrill rifled a shot that hit
the crossbar of the North Dakota
goal, Merrill took a shot from the
blue line that Glendening kicked
over to Winnett, who had a wide-
open right side of the net and
banged home the eventual game-
winner for the Wolverines.
"I had my head downcomplete-
ly," Winnett said. "Luke was able
to kick it to me free, and I knew
approximately where the net was
and figured the goalie wouldn't be
there that quickly. I just shot it as
hard as I could.
"Obviously getting the first goal
against a team like that, they're
not used to playing from behind
and after that we were able to
frustrate them. Our penalty kill-
ing and goaltending was very
good, and that kind of angered
them and maybe got them away
from the game plan they're used
to playing."
Both his parents flew in from
Vancouver to watch the game.
Embracing the win-or-be-done
mentality of a senior, Winnett
picked a good time to step for the
Wolverines.
He started the game out strong
on the penalty kill, making a few
nice clears of the puck out of the
Michigan zone after the Wolver-
ines took two early penalties to
start the game.
"Personally, I think Ben's had a
very interesting story here," Rust
said. "He's definitely, in my opin-
ion, one of the most skilled guys
on the team. I think he's been put
in a very difficult role in his time
at Michigan, and I couldn't think
of a better person to have that
goal than Ben."

Sioux, penalty kill stifling in win

By STEPHEN J. NESBITT
Daily SportsEditor
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Sitting on
the edge of the boards at Xcel
Energy Center after the Michi-
gan hockey team's 2-0 victory
over North Dakota, the unlike-
ly group wanted to stay in the
shadow.
That's where they thrive.
Instead of standing proudly
in the locker room with press
swarming around them, fresh-
men forwards
Derek DeB- NOTEBOOK
lois, Luke
Moffatt and sophomore forward
Jeff Rohrkemper - Michigan's
fourth line - refused to be
interviewed as individuals, but
sent Rohrkemper to serve as the
line's representative.
The stipulation: His answers
needed to begin with "we" and
he had to mention his linemates
by name twice.
Check and check.
On Thursday, the trio was
far from in the shadows - they
were on the game's biggest
stage.
While many teams drop their
fourth line come playoff time,
Berenson counted on his grind-
ers for valuable minutes against
the high-powered Fighting
Sioux attack.
Berenson gives his fourth line
the task of being a "plus player"
- offensive production isn't
required, but being a brick wall
on defense is required.
And they gave their coach
both sides of the equation.
"They came out, they sparked
us when we needed a spark, and
I thought that they outplayed

the North Dakota fourth line,"
senior forward Matt Rust said.
"We talked about it on our flight
over, that our freshmen cannot
be freshmen anymore - our
freshmen need to play like soph-
omores and everyone needs to
play a year older than they actu-
ally are."
The trio was kept out of the
scoring summary, but in a game
that featured just a handful of
quality scoring chances for the
Wolverines, the fourth line was
able to drive deep into the North
Dakota zone and drive the net
with speed.
"Being the fourth line,
when we get out there it's all
about getting the pucks deep,"
Rohrkemper said. "In a close
game like that, I think that style
of play really benefitted us."
They held their own in the
defensive end, guarding against
the ferocious Fighting Sioux
offense throughout the entire
semifinal. That defensive poise
came from battling for the last
spots in Michigan's lineup.
It was a lack of attention to
defense that lost sophomore
forward Lindsay Sparks a spot
in the lineup for most of the sea-
son, and it was defense that got
Rohrkemper back onto the ice in
recent weeks.
These battles were won in the
last eight months of practice.
"Once you're out of the line-
up, you get more of an apprecia-
tion for being in it," Rohrkemper
said. "Each of us is trying to take
advantage of it, and it's good to
see that Coach Berenson putting
more trust in us."
KILLIN' IT: When Rust
received a minor penalty for

elbowing just over three min-
utes into the game, things
looked grim.
North Dakota boasts the
seventh-best power play in the
nation, entering the game at just
over a 23-percent clip.
But the Wolverines were bat-
tle-tested.
In the NCAA West Regional
against Nebraska-Omaha and
Colorado College, Michigan
fought off 12 of 13 man advan-
tages to sweep the regional.
So when the Fighting Sioux
came calling, Michigan was
prepared.
The Wolverines fought the
penalty off with ease, almost
looking stronger on the penal-
ty kill than they did 5-on-5 for
much of the first period.
Michigan went on to shut
North Dakota down on all four
of its power-play attempts
throughout the game.
Both Rust and senior forward
Ben Winnett gave the credit
to assistant coach Billy Pow-
ers, who works the penalty kill
extensively in practice.
"It speaks to the greatjob that
our coaching staff does with
scouting," Rust said. "Billy Pow-
ers truly cares about our team
and the guys who are out there
on the penalty kill. It speaks
volumes to how hard we truly
work. That was one of the most
dangerous power plays we've
faced all year."
Added Berenson: "Our pen-
alty killers were strong. Our
defense played alot in their own
zone. They held up well. I mean,
it was an endurance contest for
our team. We were playing in
our zone."


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